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Pro-ams and a few fans return to PGA Tour in Dominican Republic

Spectators haven’t been allowed on site during PGA Tour events since the first round of the Players Championship over six months ago. After a 13-week break due to the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 16 tournaments without cheers, jeers or …

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That’ll change slightly this week in the Dominican Republic.

The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, previously scheduled for March but rescheduled due to the pandemic, will allow a select number of patrons back on tournament grounds — socially distanced, of course — when the event tees off Thursday.

The final few holes at Corales Golf Club will have corporate VIP areas set up, allowing sponsors and a handful of other visitors to watch the live sporting event in person following necessary COVID screening precautions.

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“Listen, we’ve been very, very fortunate in the game of golf to be able to be one of the first sports to return back certainly on the television and being out there competing. We’ve been very fortunate, but there’s no doubt that we miss the interaction of fans,” reigning champion Graeme McDowell said. “That’s going to be a nice way to get some noise back out here and get those sounds that we expect from tournament golf back a little bit.”

The 16 Tour events played without fans allowed on site have been odd. For example, the winning putt in the playoff between Daniel Berger and Collin Morikawa at the Charles Schwab Challenge, the first event back on the Tour’s revised schedule, drew just a smattering of applause when Berger holed out for the win. Nor was there the chilling cheer of thousands when 23-year-old Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau later captured their first majors.

But these events held in a somewhat dystopian sports world haven’t been completely devoid of fan noise. In last week’s U.S. Open especially, fans from surrounding neighborhoods and areas have found gaps or low fencing to howl at Matthew Wolff or cheer on Rory McIlroy, reminding normalcy-starved viewers of what used to be.

Hopefully, golf fans hear some of that again this weekend on the back nine, even if the field isn’t packed with top-ranked players.

Graeme McDowell, Puntacana — Graeme McDowell after winning the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship on March 31, 2019 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

McDowell, who has been the Corales Championship king for 19 months, is one of the players excited to have fans back on tournament grounds in some capacity.

“Yeah, I think it’s exciting. It’s exciting to have a slight bit of normality coming back,” McDowell said. “Obviously, there’s going to be a limited number of fans down here, it’s going to be done the right way. The people here at Grupo Puntacana are certainly working hard to make sure they execute a really safe game plan in regards to just keeping people safe.”

McDowell, who missed the cut in the U.S. Open, won his last event in the Dominican Republic in 2019 by one shot after carding consecutive 64s in the second and third rounds. The 41-year-old competed in 16 events in the 2019-20 season, finishing with one top 10 and seven missed cuts.

The Corales Championship follows the Sanford International on the Champions Tour in welcoming a smaller number of fans back to live golf. Played Sept. 11-13 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Sanford International became the first professional golf tournament to welcome fans in the wake of the global pandemic.

Fans at that event were given free masks and gloves, if requested. The course at Minnehaha Country Club was roped so players had more space from fans than before COVID and autographs were prohibited. Hand sanitizer and hand-washing stations were also set up across the grounds.

This week, the United States surpassed 200,000 deaths related to COVID-19 with the daily number of new cases increasing each day for the past two weeks.

While the cases and death toll continue to rise, PGA Tour — and professional golf in general — has boasted one of the lowest infection rates among professional sports since returning from the COVID break. So far, 10 Tour players and two caddies have tested positive.

Charley Hoffman said Wednesday he applauded the Tour and players for adhering to safety guidelines so the 2019-20 season could resume and the new season could begin.

“If you would have told us that we would have ended up with no breaks, no downtime with the pandemic going on, I think we all would have been, ‘Nah, I’m not sure if you’re correct there,'” Hoffman said. “But to do that and now start the season with an international event, I’ve got to give credit to the players. We’ve set out a game plan for the players to follow. We somewhat have a bubble once we get on site, but the reality is we travel week in and week out. We do step outside the bubble, we’ve got to go to hotels, we’ve got to get food, so it’s something that is far from contained, but our players have followed those regulations that we’ve set forth and it’s shown that we’ve stayed healthy.

“We’ve had no real contact tracing-wise. If someone grabs it or gets coronavirus, they haven’t really passed it on to anybody, which is the most important thing. We find it early and we keep it contained to that one person and we go on. You know, I give all the credit to the executive committee, the commissioner and most importantly the players for following the guidelines.”

Graeme McDowell on the eighth hole during the 2019 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said earlier this month in his annual “state of the Tour” press conference that pro-ams would soon be welcomed back on the schedule. This week, the Wednesday pro-am returned.

McDowell called those events an essential part of Tour life.

“Listen, love it or hate it, there are certainly some pro-ams out there I love, meet some great people, and there are probably some pro-ams out there I could give it a miss from time to time, but it is an integral part of what we do with the PGA Tour,” McDowell said Tuesday. “I take them very seriously. It’s an integral part of my preparation and being out there and playing the golf course.

“Great to have it back and I’m looking forward to, like I said, I’ve missed the old environment a little bit and perhaps this will give me a little bit of a taste of the old stuff again and maybe straighten me back out and maybe get me back on some leaderboards again.”

The Tour has not stated when fans will return back to other events in a limited and socially distanced capacity, but Monahan said earlier this month it’s vital to do it safely whenever that is.

“When we feel like it’s safe to return fans out here, that’s when fans will return,” Monahan said. “We owe that to them, to make sure that we feel like, and we’re supported locally in every market we play in, that that is supported by the local government authorities.”

For fans who love this tropical event, there’s good news — this is one of three tournaments that appear twice on the 2020-21 Tour schedule. It will be played again March 25-28, 2021.

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9 Notre Dame players miss first practice after pair of positive COVID-19 tests

Notre Dame football has now administered 619 COVID-19 tests since testing began in June with only four positive tests in that time. The concern is that half of those four came in this latest round, after students returned to Notre Dame’s campus.

Notre Dame football administered their latest round of COVID-19 testing this past Monday as tests were administered to 117 players. Although still not a huge number, two positive tests came back.

One of the players who tested positive had what is being called a mild case while the other is asymptomatic.

An additional seven players are in quarantine after contact tracing which leaves a total of nine players out for the first practice of the year this Wednesday afternoon.

43 staff members were also given tests, all of which came back negative.

The question now is can the spread be contained in and around both the football team and University. Quick action was taken which is obviously a great step but when the next round of testing comes how many more players and potentially coaches will have been exposed?

Even without a massive number of positive tests, this sets up an incredibly important round of testing next time around for Notre Dame football.

As LPGA restart draws near, players around the world weigh their options

Beth Ann Nichols breaks down which LPGA stars plan to return to play when the season resumes in Ohio amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Jennifer Kupcho isn’t rushing into anything. The LPGA sophomore will be there when the LPGA restarts its season July 31 in Toledo, Ohio. But as for the two events in Scotland next month – which include the AIG Women’s British Open – she isn’t sure.

Kupcho’s paternal grandmother contracted COVID-19 while in a memory care facility.

“She’s still live and going strong,” said a relieved Kupcho.

But the family is understandably cautious. Kupcho wants to make sure she’s comfortable.

Georgia Hall and Charley Hull won’t be coming over for Toledo. The English pair will instead carry on at the Rose Ladies Series and pick up the tour at the Aberdeen Stanford Investments Ladies Scottish Open.

Bronte Law and Gemma Dryburgh, however, will come over from England and quarantine in the U.S. for two weeks before playing in Ohio and then head back over to Scotland.

Inbee Park, So Yeon Ryu and M.J. Hur are among the South Koreans who plan to skip Toledo. They haven’t decided about Scotland. After the Evian Championship was canceled, Park moved the event she hosts, the Orangelife Championship Trophy, to that week. But then the Marathon Classic was moved into Evian’s old spot. Park, Ryu and Hur are among the Korean LPGA players who will compete at Orangelife.

Nasa Hataoka, the top player from Japan currently ranked No. 4 in the world, recently competed in a Japan LPGA event. She too has yet to decide about her U.S. plans.

The field for the new LPGA Drive On Championship closes on Friday, and it will be interesting to see who decided to make the trip.

Cristie Kerr recently got tested for COVID-19 and came back negative. She plans to compete in the two events in Ohio and Scotland.

Cheyenne Knight during the 2020 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Course in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Cheyenne Knight was shocked to find out that she’s not in the field for the Women’s British Open. She’ll play in both Toledo events and then head overseas. She’s hopeful that she can play her way into the field at Royal Troon. Pre-qualifying and final qualifying events for the WBO have been canceled due to health and safety concerns. The top 5 players not already exempt from the Marathon Classic will be in the field as well as the top 3 players, not already qualified, from the Ladies Scottish Open.

No family is allowed at the course for the Drive On Championship. They’re not allowed to make the trip to Scotland either as athletes have been given special exemptions to get into the country.

“I finally have to leave the nest,” said Knight, who typically travels with her mom.

Catriona Matthew, who lives about 10 minutes from the host club for the Ladies Scottish Open, said her views on whether or not Scotland would be able to host the two events changed by the day.

“People here really adhered to the rules and you basically didn’t go anywhere and see anyone for three months,” Matthew said. “We’re just gradually coming out of it now.”

So gradually, in fact, that Matthew, who will compete in both Scottish events, has yet to practice on the range.

“I could book a slot for 45 minutes,” she said.

She does, however, play at several clubs in the area each week, including her own, North Berwick. Next week her home club will start allowing visitors. Foursomes are still restricted to people from two different households.

Matthew, who will once again captain Team Europe at the 2021 Solheim Cup, was supposed to come over in September for a look at Inverness Club for a one-year out event. Instead she’s left scouting the course on TV as the LPGA restarts its season at Inverness for the Drive On tournament later this month.

In early June, Kupcho won her first professional title at the Colorado Women’s Open – her home state. She was allowed two spectators to come out and watch and her both her parents were there.

Who would’ve thought that the next time she wins, the gallery might be even smaller.

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Workday Charity Open: Muirfield Village feels erie without fans

The PGA Tour’s Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village feels erie without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If a crow’s caw-caw-caw counts as spectator cheering, then Muirfield Village Golf Club was roaring on Thursday.

But get past the noisy corvids, the chew-chew-chew of the singing cardinals and the obnoxious chatter of house sparrows and the course that Jack built felt less like a raucous celebration and more like an empty-nester’s quiet night at home.

No fans applauding great shots and groaning over missed 3-footers? No wobbly frat boys spilling beer onto their flip-flops? No summer-centric scent of suntan lotion?

It’s weird here, man.

Granted, golf is a game of whisper and shhh, but without fan energy the PGA Tour’s Workday Charity Open feels more like an ordinary event than a spectacle. That’s no knock on Muirfield Village, just another example of how the coronavirus pandemic throws a wet blanket over anything it touches.

Workday — the first live professional sporting event held in central Ohio in four months — was supposed to be a warm-up act for the Memorial Tournament, which begins next Thursday.

A one-off filler on the PGA Tour schedule after the John Deere Classic was canceled, the Workday event never was going to include fans. But the Memorial was set to welcome up to 8,000 spectators a day — until pulling the plug on that plan Monday due to a spike in COVID-19 cases locally and nationwide. Now for the next two weeks it will be all quiet on the western front of Dublin Road.

That includes at the first tee.

“All right, gentlemen, the 7:45 a.m. starting time, on the tee — Justin Thomas,” the starter announced, apparently for the benefit of Golf Channel camera operators who were the only witnesses.

Other observations:

Finding balls becomes more of a challenge with no gallery tracking stray shots. Brooks Koepka hooked his drive onto the hillside left of the creek at the par-5 11th hole and looked for it about 20 yards short of its actual resting place until a TV reporter waved him to the proper location. (Aside: Koepka shanked his second shot about 10 yards into rough, hit his third about 60 yards onto the fairway and somehow still had a chance to save par. He missed the putt, but to manage bogey after hacking it for three straight shots shows why these guys are so good. It’s just unfair to rest of us.)
There are benefits to not having fans, like walking from point A to point B without having to traverse through points E, F and G because galleries get in the way. Also, it is amazing how clearly you can pick up conversations between players when there is no crowd noise to drown them out. And there is something of the dirty little secret that many players don’t mind the peace and quiet of golf without galleries. “It’s relaxing, to be honest,” said Nick Taylor, whose opening round 5-under par 67 puts him near the lead after the first round.

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Taylor, making his first start since the Players Championship in mid-March — just before COVID-19 put the sports world on lockdown — said the quiet reminds him of his amateur days.

Still, the tranquility felt peculiar. My mind wandered — more than normal, anyway — following the trio of Thomas-Koepka-Day go about their business in relative silence. I watched an ant scale an ash tree and noticed the moon waning in a blue sky.

At No. 14, normally among the loudest spots on the course, Jon Rahm chipped in for birdie from deep rough just off the green and was greeted with the sound of one hand clapping.

At least Rahm had a sense of humor about it. Looking around after his hole-out, he cracked, “Just like Tiger did it.”

Most fans get their golf fix by watching TV, not standing along the gallery ropes. (According to CBS, the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday was up 56% from last year’s event. Since the return of golf in June, the combined ratings are up 26% over the same events last year.)

What, then, is the big deal about not having fans at tournaments? Just this: The product suffers when the birdies in the trees create more noise than those on the leaderboard.

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